In article <58rr25$g3r at oravannahka.Helsinki.FI>, westerli at cc.Helsinki.FI
(Thomas O Westerling) wrote:
> Namjin Chung (nc1 at acpub.duke.edu) wrote:
>> : Dear Yeasers,
>> : I found this ad in the Web and it says that this company (Biospec) has
> : the machine for breaking yeast cells with glass beads in up to 8
> : microcentrifuge vials. It seemed to do the same job as a conventional
> : vortex does, but in much efficiently and in less minutes.
>> : But I really don't have any information about this machine and company.
> : Does anybody have experience with this machine? Does this machine
> : generate heat which could kill proteins when you do an enzyme assay? Are
> : there other companies making similar products? Basically what I want to
> : know is what is a reliable machine do this job. TIA.
>
We have used the mini-bead beater and have found it to be quite reliable.
If you're worried about heat you can keep it in the cold room. Its main
advantage is that it generates much more shear action than does an
ordinary vortex mixer, so only a few seconds is enough to schmush most of
the cells in a sample. We even use it to lyse 5 ml samples, by sticking a
50-ml bluetop tube vertically into the tube holder!
As far as I know, this is a unique product.
--
Michael Lichten
lichten at helix.nih.gov